I don't think the readers of Slashdot are going to jump onto the latest, greatest, fastest, flashiest, etc. If we're rabid about anything, it's openness. If a card is a little slow, but offers full source to their driver and all the specs any developer could want,/. will love them. However, the fastest, greatest, most wonderful card in the world in nothing short of evil to/. if the specs are confidential. Look at the Diamond fiasco from a couple years ago, or the quick reversal of/.'s opinion on Nvidia after they released their sources.
/. is reacting poorly to 3dfx's lawsuit because they are suing Creative over Intellectual Property. If 3dfx would open up their Glide interface (which would preclude this lawsuit), we'd be much happier.
I purchased Civ: CTP from Lokisoft. I'll probably buy Opera (I use the Windows version at work and LOVE it). I bought Abuse from Crack.com when it first came out and was hovering over my checkbook waiting for Golgatha (*sigh*).
Of course, I'd prefer if everything was GPL'd, but some things it isn't necessary or possible. I'll try to avoid an OS that isn't GPL because my OS is too important to trust to someone else. But if I find something that I really want, and a similar product isn't available from OSS, I'll feel free to buy it.
I guess I'm rabid about somethings and not others.
Heh...poor phrasing. I meant, when you search the XFree86 web page, look for the phrase "release plans" to find the section that talks about release. Sorry to anyone who was confused.
I'm guessing that the previous release of the source for their 2D driver would be more germaine. The linux kernel framebuffer doesn't deal with 3D AFAIK.
But, this release contains some 2D enhancements, so at least some of this would be useful.
Precision Insight and SuSE are building in the direct rendering stuff, which should bring OpenGL up to Windows level and make it easier to support 3D in general
Okay, I started writing this and then figured there is a good chance I don't know what I'm talking about. Everything after this sentence should be viewed as as AFAIK.
They have Mesa drivers to do 3D in hardware, but also GLX drivers. GLX is implemented as a module that you add to XFree86 that allows you to use OpenGL calls over the network. This is a useful thing. It allows you to send simple GL instructions ("Draw a sphere here and a box there") instead of pixmaps, and thus save bandwidth. It is useful even for local access because it saves a bunch of pixmap copying.
So, you don't need to use the X module for Quake or anything, but it might end up being a little faster.
Apparently, they also made one change to XFree86 to scratch an itch the developer had. Something about stippled fills and the way it made the KDE logout screen look. Sounds like a good thing, and an indication that NVidia might be a fun place to work.
I don't have experience with Patriot, but I do with Covad. I currently have an IDSL (DSL over ISDN lines) connection through Concentric and Covad.
It's a big pain in the neck. Everytime something goes down, they start out blaming it on me. "Try resetting your router...try rebooting your machine.." etc. After a while, I tell them it's not my fault.
They invariably ask for me to bring in my router for an exchange. I did this once, and ended up with a nicer router, but no network.
Finally, after days of telling them it's not my fault, they go down to their equiptment and find something wrong and fix it.
My complaints in a nutshell: it takes days to fix anything, I'm not allowed to talk to Covad (who causes the problems), they treat me like a moron, and they refuse to take responsibility for their broken setup.
I'd avoid having any contact with Covad if you value your sanity. Currently, I'm looking to get away from Covad. I was about to go with Flashcom/Northpoint until I heard this review. I don't know what the solution is, but all the available options seem to stink.
I think the general idea was that he created the Metaverse in his book. The idea of virtual reality wasn't his, but this particular implementation (virtual implementation? Is writing about VR Virtual Virtual Reality?)
Another technical error; Waterhouse tells Turing and von Heckleheber (sp?) that you can't cut a stick PI inches long. Blatantly false. Get a pipe with an outside diameter of 1 inch. Wrap a string around it and mark where it loops. Cut a stick according to the string.
I think we'd run into a problem there. They can setup a beowulf cluster for cheap, but porting the software to be beowulf-aware is a bigger task than they're going to do.
TWINKLE doesn't attack the encryption algorithm. It attacks the key exchange algorithm, RSA. 128bit RC4 is still very secure. Almost all SSL sites use 1024bit RSA keys for key exchange, thus aren't crackable with TWINKLE.
TWINKLE doesn't crack RC4, it cracks RSA. RSA is a public key algorithm. It's mostly used to transfer symmetric (like RC4 and DES) keys between computers, and not really used to encrypt data at all.
Does anyone know what method this is based on? In sneakers, the scientist came up with something new, faster than the NFS (numeric field sieve I think). Shamir's machine sounds like a massively parallel NFS cracker, but I don't see any details to confirm this.
DH Brown didn't do a performance test, like Mindcraft, but did a features evaluation. No amount of tweking will change the available features. And DH Brown was mostly correct. Linux doesn't support the larger file sizes or 36 bit memory sizes like NT does. DH Brown pointed out some deficiencies in Linux that are easily overcome and made a point of that. I found the summary to be even-handedand generally truthful.
Of course, I'm not a hardcore kernel hacker, so I don't know whether what DH Brown says or not is true, but it all sounded factual according to articles I have read previously. I think Linux Journal ran an article on a talk with Intel, Linus, VA Research and RedHat, where Intel points out the lack of 36bit memory addresses and offers to help.
Microsoft commissioned this test. That means that Mindcraft got their best tech support. This is normally a paid expense. You can see some pretty heavy registry hacks in their setup. You bet this kind of support would cost a bundle.
It appears as if Mindcraft spect $40 on a Redhat CD, and then expected Redhat to help them setup this complex system.
The postings didn't mention who they were or why they were doing this. Nor did it show any real information, other than the basic machine specs and the fact that it gets slow.
So, Mindcraft gets the top of the line, extra-expensive support from MS for free, but doesn't pay for the support from a Linux distributor. They then send in a fluffy posting pleading for help without providing any useful information. After all this, they complain that Linux doesn't have support.
If they bought their machine from VA Research or Penguin Computing or someone, or hired a contractor to help them set it up, you bet they would have gotten the answers they needed.
For all who are interested, here is another test done my Mindcraft. It shows NT being faster than Netware. It's a similar format, but some differences are apparent.
For instance, in this survey, they talk about price/performance, which isn't mentioned in the Linux survey (for obivous reasons).
I think you misunderstand Slashdot, this article and the Melissa virus. Melissa only attacks people with Word and MAPI running, meaning mostly Windows people and a couple Mac people. It's a fairly lame virus that's only dangerous because it swamps mail servers.
Slashdot tends to appeal mostly to users of alternate OS's, like Linux. Thus, the Melissa virus wasn't a terribly big deal to those people reading/. (with the exception of the people running mail servers). Also, it was covered extensively in more mainstream press./. coverage would have been redundant.
This article talks about a bigger topic than yet-another-windows-virus (well, worm I guess). That is the potential for alternate OS's to be accepted in the mainstream. Rowan has some interesting insights and it's part of/.'s concept to share those with everyone else. If nothing else, it's/.'s way of giving the news medium over to its users.
Posting this article shows more than yet-another-OSS-opinion-peice, but it shows CmdrTaco's continuing goal of bringing the news to the people and the people to the news. "News For nerds" also means "News By Nerds". What matters is the medium, not necessarily the message.
Actually, if you've been following/. recently, CmdrTaco just put in a bunch of stuff that could be considered demoronizing filters. If you don't like Katz, go to user prefs and filter him out.
I'm not sure what this has to do with the article, but which site it redirects you to doesn't determine ownership. According to whois, applemacmate.com is owned by
Software Innovations Technology (APPLEMACMATE-DOM) 40 Jln SS21/18, Damansara Utama Petaling Jaya, Selangor 47400 MALAYSIA
Slashdot Mirror
If you grab the gnuwin32 distribution off Cygnus's site, you can have BASH for Windows NT (I haven't gotten it to work right under 95).
I don't think the readers of Slashdot are going to jump onto the latest, greatest, fastest, flashiest, etc. If we're rabid about anything, it's openness. If a card is a little slow, but offers full source to their driver and all the specs any developer could want, /. will love them. However, the fastest, greatest, most wonderful card in the world in nothing short of evil to /. if the specs are confidential. Look at the Diamond fiasco from a couple years ago, or the quick reversal of /.'s opinion on Nvidia after they released their sources.
/. is reacting poorly to 3dfx's lawsuit because they are suing Creative over Intellectual Property. If 3dfx would open up their Glide interface (which would preclude this lawsuit), we'd be much happier.
I purchased Civ: CTP from Lokisoft. I'll probably buy Opera (I use the Windows version at work and LOVE it). I bought Abuse from Crack.com when it first came out and was hovering over my checkbook waiting for Golgatha (*sigh*).
Of course, I'd prefer if everything was GPL'd, but some things it isn't necessary or possible. I'll try to avoid an OS that isn't GPL because my OS is too important to trust to someone else. But if I find something that I really want, and a similar product isn't available from OSS, I'll feel free to buy it.
I guess I'm rabid about somethings and not others.
Heh...poor phrasing. I meant, when you search the XFree86 web page, look for the phrase "release plans" to find the section that talks about release. Sorry to anyone who was confused.
I'm guessing that the previous release of the source for their 2D driver would be more germaine. The linux kernel framebuffer doesn't deal with 3D AFAIK.
But, this release contains some 2D enhancements, so at least some of this would be useful.
Wasn't it the German government who crippled the GSM encryption without telling anyone? Now, they want people to trust crypto? Good luck.
Hmmm...I wasn't trying to be funny. What parts confused you?
Precision Insight and SuSE are building in the direct rendering stuff, which should bring OpenGL up to Windows level and make it easier to support 3D in general
The website says that they'll be releasing alpha versions this July. Look for "release plans" or something similar.
Am I the only one thinking this:
SPROINGIES IS GOING TO ROCK!!!!!!
?
(In case you don't know, sproingies is a cool screensaver in xlock and xscreensaver that uses OpenGL)
Okay, I started writing this and then figured there is a good chance I don't know what I'm talking about. Everything after this sentence should be viewed as as AFAIK.
They have Mesa drivers to do 3D in hardware, but also GLX drivers. GLX is implemented as a module that you add to XFree86 that allows you to use OpenGL calls over the network. This is a useful thing. It allows you to send simple GL instructions ("Draw a sphere here and a box there") instead of pixmaps, and thus save bandwidth. It is useful even for local access because it saves a bunch of pixmap copying.
So, you don't need to use the X module for Quake or anything, but it might end up being a little faster.
Apparently, they also made one change to XFree86 to scratch an itch the developer had. Something about stippled fills and the way it made the KDE logout screen look. Sounds like a good thing, and an indication that NVidia might be a fun place to work.
I don't have experience with Patriot, but I do with Covad. I currently have an IDSL (DSL over ISDN lines) connection through Concentric and Covad.
It's a big pain in the neck. Everytime something goes down, they start out blaming it on me. "Try resetting your router...try rebooting your machine.." etc. After a while, I tell them it's not my fault.
They invariably ask for me to bring in my router for an exchange. I did this once, and ended up with a nicer router, but no network.
Finally, after days of telling them it's not my fault, they go down to their equiptment and find something wrong and fix it.
My complaints in a nutshell: it takes days to fix anything, I'm not allowed to talk to Covad (who causes the problems), they treat me like a moron, and they refuse to take responsibility for their broken setup.
I'd avoid having any contact with Covad if you value your sanity. Currently, I'm looking to get away from Covad. I was about to go with Flashcom/Northpoint until I heard this review. I don't know what the solution is, but all the available options seem to stink.
I think the general idea was that he created the Metaverse in his book. The idea of virtual reality wasn't his, but this particular implementation (virtual implementation? Is writing about VR Virtual Virtual Reality?)
Another technical error; Waterhouse tells Turing and von Heckleheber (sp?) that you can't cut a stick PI inches long. Blatantly false. Get a pipe with an outside diameter of 1 inch. Wrap a string around it and mark where it loops. Cut a stick according to the string.
I think we'd run into a problem there. They can setup a beowulf cluster for cheap, but porting the software to be beowulf-aware is a bigger task than they're going to do.
TWINKLE doesn't attack the encryption algorithm. It attacks the key exchange algorithm, RSA. 128bit RC4 is still very secure. Almost all SSL sites use 1024bit RSA keys for key exchange, thus aren't crackable with TWINKLE.
TWINKLE doesn't crack RC4, it cracks RSA. RSA is a public key algorithm. It's mostly used to transfer symmetric (like RC4 and DES) keys between computers, and not really used to encrypt data at all.
Does anyone know what method this is based on? In sneakers, the scientist came up with something new, faster than the NFS (numeric field sieve I think). Shamir's machine sounds like a massively parallel NFS cracker, but I don't see any details to confirm this.
DH Brown didn't do a performance test, like Mindcraft, but did a features evaluation. No amount of tweking will change the available features. And DH Brown was mostly correct. Linux doesn't support the larger file sizes or 36 bit memory sizes like NT does. DH Brown pointed out some deficiencies in Linux that are easily overcome and made a point of that. I found the summary to be even-handedand generally truthful.
Of course, I'm not a hardcore kernel hacker, so I don't know whether what DH Brown says or not is true, but it all sounded factual according to articles I have read previously. I think Linux Journal ran an article on a talk with Intel, Linus, VA Research and RedHat, where Intel points out the lack of 36bit memory addresses and offers to help.
Microsoft commissioned this test. That means that Mindcraft got their best tech support. This is normally a paid expense. You can see some pretty heavy registry hacks in their setup. You bet this kind of support would cost a bundle.
It appears as if Mindcraft spect $40 on a Redhat CD, and then expected Redhat to help them setup this complex system.
The postings didn't mention who they were or why they were doing this. Nor did it show any real information, other than the basic machine specs and the fact that it gets slow.
So, Mindcraft gets the top of the line, extra-expensive support from MS for free, but doesn't pay for the support from a Linux distributor. They then send in a fluffy posting pleading for help without providing any useful information. After all this, they complain that Linux doesn't have support.
If they bought their machine from VA Research or Penguin Computing or someone, or hired a contractor to help them set it up, you bet they would have gotten the answers they needed.
For all who are interested, here is another test done my Mindcraft. It shows NT being faster than Netware. It's a similar format, but some differences are apparent.
e svr.html
For instance, in this survey, they talk about price/performance, which isn't mentioned in the Linux survey (for obivous reasons).
http://www.mindcraft.com/whitepapers/nts4nw5fil
If you were in Silicon Valley, you'd be making roughly $40k
I think you misunderstand Slashdot, this article and the Melissa virus. Melissa only attacks people with Word and MAPI running, meaning mostly Windows people and a couple Mac people. It's a fairly lame virus that's only dangerous because it swamps mail servers.
/. (with the exception of the people running mail servers). Also, it was covered extensively in more mainstream press. /. coverage would have been redundant.
/.'s concept to share those with everyone else. If nothing else, it's /.'s way of giving the news medium over to its users.
Slashdot tends to appeal mostly to users of alternate OS's, like Linux. Thus, the Melissa virus wasn't a terribly big deal to those people reading
This article talks about a bigger topic than yet-another-windows-virus (well, worm I guess). That is the potential for alternate OS's to be accepted in the mainstream. Rowan has some interesting insights and it's part of
Posting this article shows more than yet-another-OSS-opinion-peice, but it shows CmdrTaco's continuing goal of bringing the news to the people and the people to the news. "News For nerds" also means "News By Nerds". What matters is the medium, not necessarily the message.
Actually, if you've been following /. recently, CmdrTaco just put in a bunch of stuff that could be considered demoronizing filters. If you don't like Katz, go to user prefs and filter him out.
I'm not sure what this has to do with the article, but which site it redirects you to doesn't determine ownership. According to whois, applemacmate.com is owned by
Software Innovations Technology (APPLEMACMATE-DOM)
40 Jln SS21/18, Damansara Utama
Petaling Jaya, Selangor 47400
MALAYSIA
Domain Name: APPLEMACMATE.COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Choong, Chong Yew (CYC14) chongyew@POBOX.COM
+60 (3) 9661168 (FAX) +60 (3) 9661136
Billing Contact:
Choong, Chong Yew (CYC14) chongyew@POBOX.COM
+60 (3) 9661168 (FAX) +60 (3) 9661136